The forthcoming Ireland football matches against Israel should proceed, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said, despite calls for them to be boycotted.
Political and sporting opposition to the Nations League game quickly emerged after it was drawn on Thursday evening.
The Football Association of Ireland (FAI) confirmed it intended to fulfil the fixtures as scheduled.
Speaking on Friday, Martin said he believed the FAI had taken the correct decision.
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“We hope Ireland does well in the competition – the [Nations League] is a journey ahead of this Irish team. They have been doing very well so far and we wish them well,” he said.
He insisted the logistics of arranging the games were a matter for football authorities and it was not political, and switched focus to the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
“There is no official boycott of Israel. I must make that point from an Irish perspective,” he said.
“We are now focusing on peace in the Middle East. The Rafah crossing [in Gaza] is open, but we would want it to be opened more broadly. [We need] comprehensive humanitarian aid and then we want to see the reconstruction of Gaza happening.”
He said people should distinguish between the actions of the Israeli government and its football team.
“We have been critics and have opposed very strongly Israeli government policy within Gaza in particular. We [also] condemned the Hamas attack on Israel which was absolutely horrific.”
“I think sport is an area that can be challenging when it crosses into the realm of politics.”
Sinn Féin has criticised the FAI’s decision regarding the games. In a statement on Thursday its spokeswoman on sport, Joanna Byrne, said that in November the FAI voted to submit a motion to Uefa, the football governing body, to ban Israel from its European club and international competitions.
“That was the correct moral and principled position to take,” she said.
“Therefore, I am extremely angry and dismayed that the FAI have confirmed they will play against Israel. It appears that their morals, and principled position, was only on paper – not in actions where it counts.”
RTÉ, meanwhile, confirmed it would broadcast the games in the event they went ahead.
“If the match goes ahead – and that is a decision for the FAI as the relevant national sporting body – RTÉ will broadcast it in line with its contractual obligations and commitment to supporting Ireland’s national teams,” it said.
Some of those calling for the FAI to refuse to play the games had also suggested the national broadcaster should decline to broadcast them if they were played, pointing to RTÉ’s decision last September to pull out of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Addressing the comparison on Friday, RTÉ said its “decision in this case is different to RTÉ’s decision regarding the Eurovision Song Contest, which is owned and run by the EBU”.
“It is national public service broadcasters/media who operate the selection process to decide which song/artist will represent their country in the contest.
“In Ireland, the responsibility falls to RTÉ as Ireland’s national public service media, and a member of the EBU. The decision regarding Ireland’s participation in any football match is one for the FAI, not RTÉ,” it said.
